FAYETTEVILLE — It didn’t come easy, but Dave Van Horn picked up his 700th win as Arkansas’ head coach Wednesday afternoon.
The Razorbacks hung on for a 10-9 win over Grand Canyon by turning a double play to strand the tying run in scoring position at Baum-Walker Stadium.
It came just a couple of batters after No. 15 Arkansas failed to turn two with a freshman, Peyton Pallette, on the mound. Shortstop Casey Martin’s throw to first was in the dirt and bounced into the stands, allowing Cuba Bess to advance to second.
The Antelopes’ next batter drew a walk and then David Avitia hit a grounder to third base. Jacob Nesbit snagged it, threw to Robert Moore covering second for one out and then Moore quickly threw to first - where Cole Austin had to stretch to make the catch.
After a replay review, it was ruled he kept his toe on the bag to end the game.
“Really good stretch by our first baseman - he did a nice job keeping his foot on the bag,” Van Horn said. “We had a chance to turn two double plays in one inning and a lot of times you don’t overcome that with a one-run lead and a freshman on the mound that’s throwing his second inning trying to close a game for the first time in his life at this level.”
That capped a game the Razorbacks led for all but the top half of the first inning, but couldn’t quite put away. Grand Canyon scored two runs in the fifth to pull within one and then answered Arkansas’ four-run sixth inning with a four-run seventh to once again make it a one-run game.
In addition to improving Arkansas to 11-5 on the season, the win was also Van Horn’s 700th as the head coach at his alma mater. He is now 700-389 (.643) in his 18th season with the Razorbacks.
When asked about the milestone’s meaning after the game, the veteran coach joked that it was better than 600 wins before saying how much he appreciated everything - including a short video that was shown on the scoreboard following the game.
“It’s like I told the players after the game, they’re congratulating me and I’m congratulating them, telling them, ‘I didn’t play in any one of those games. You guys do it,’” Van Horn said. “I’ve had a lot of good teams and a lot of great coaches. Over time, things start to add up.”
Next up for the Razorbacks is a trip to Starkville, Miss., for their SEC-opening series against Mississippi State. First pitch of Friday’s game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., followed by 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday.
Martin, Goodheart Homer
After hitting nothing but singles in Tuesday’s win over Grand Canyon, Arkansas benefited from a pair of big home runs in the second game of the midweek series.
Coming off his second “golden sombrero” of the season, Martin put that performance behind him quickly, turning on an inside fastball for a three-run home run that gave the Razorbacks a 3-2 lead in the first inning. They never relinquished that lead.
It was just the second home run of the season for Martin, but the 30th of his career. He finished the game 3 for 5 - with his other two hits coming on sliders - and was a triple shy of the cycle.
“He had a rough night last night,” Van Horn said. “He’s learned how to shake it off. That doesn’t surprise me a bit on how it went for him today… He had an opportunity to bounce back and he did it.”
Arkansas pushed its lead to 6-3 thanks to a two-run single by Matt Goodheart and RBI infield single by Martin in the second. However, Grand Canyon cut its deficit to one in the fifth.
That set the stage for one of the more impressive home runs of the season. Goodheart crushed a 1-1 pitch by reliever Cole Hoskins over the scoreboard for a solo shot that doubled the Razorbacks’ lead. It also sparked a four-run rally that proved to be essential to the win.
It was Goodheart’s third long ball of the season, which is two shy of his total for all of 2019.
